Two of the biggest trends in IP communications are Skype and Asterisk. There is just something so compelling about the free model --consumers and enterprises can't seem to get enough of either of the products these two companies offer.

But what if there was a way to bridge the Asterisk community with Skype users. What a great world that would be. Imagine allowing customers to Skype into your call center or imagine allowing remote workers to calling via Skype and stay connected to the Asterisk system where they could use IVR and speech recognition to navigate to the right mailbox or person.

My friends that day has arrived and it is courtesy of PIKA Technologies a company playing in the communications development space for over a decade. This company was one of the original players in the DSP resource game when Dialogic, Rhetorex, Natural Micrososystems and Brooktrout were other major contributors to the space.

The product name is PIKA Connect for Asterisk and it will be available next month according to the company. If you are interested in seeing how this technology works visit www.pikatechnologies.com and use your Skype client to get connected to the company's auto attendant.

If you are interested in becoming a participant in the beta program be sure to e-mail David Clarke right away as I am sure there will be heavy demand.

My take on this news is Skype and Asterisk will both be helped tremendously by the news. The younger generation who embrace Skype will love to be able to call companies without having to dial a regular phone. They will be able to speak in a manner they are most comfortable with. In the end companies will be heavily incented to implement such solutions as they will give their customers what they want and also reduce their 800 number bills.

Come see Asterisk and all the other IP communications vendors that matter under one roof in one week at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in San Diego California. 9,000 attendees from around 70 countries will be on hand to network and find out what is next in the ever-changing world of IP communications.

Two of the biggest trends in IP communications are Skype and Asterisk. There is just something so compelling about the free model --consumers and enterprises can't seem to get enough of either of the products these two companies offer.

But what if there was a way to bridge the Asterisk community with Skype users. What a great world that would be. Imagine allowing customers to Skype into your call center or imagine allowing remote workers to calling via Skype and stay connected to the Asterisk system where they could use IVR and speech recognition to navigate to the right mailbox or person.

My friends that day has arrived and it is courtesy of PIKA Technologies a company playing in the communications development space for over a decade. This company was one of the original players in the DSP resource game when Dialogic, Rhetorex, Natural Micrososystems and Brooktrout were other major contributors to the space.

The product name is PIKA Connect for Asterisk and it will be available next month according to the company. If you are interested in seeing how this technology works visit www.pikatechnologies.com and use your Skype client to get connected to the company's auto attendant.

If you are interested in becoming a participant in the beta program be sure to e-mail David Clarke right away as I am sure there will be heavy demand.

My take on this news is Skype and Asterisk will both be helped tremendously by the news. The younger generation who embrace Skype will love to be able to call companies without having to dial a regular phone. They will be able to speak in a manner they are most comfortable with. In the end companies will be heavily incented to implement such solutions as they will give their customers what they want and also reduce their 800 number bills.

Come see Asterisk and all the other IP communications vendors that matter under one roof in one week at Internet Telephony Conference & Expo in San Diego California. 9,000 attendees from around 70 countries will be on hand to network and find out what is next in the ever-changing world of IP communications.